How to Throw a Princess Tea Party

Make your child's fairy-tale wishes come true with this royal reception.

Invitations: Using an old-fashioned font, type the invitation on your computer. Suggested wording: Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Her Royal Highness [name of your child] is turning [age]! Join the celebration at [location, date, and time]. Princess costumes welcome. Please let Queen [your name] and King [your spouse's name] know if you can attend: [your phone number]. Print out the invitation on a medium-size piece of white printer-friendly stationery. Glue it to a larger piece of pink or purple stationery. Attach a ribbon bow to the top center of each invitation.

Decorations: Adorn the party space in pink and purple balloons and streamers.

Make an enchanting princess hat centerpiece: Roll a large piece of pink poster board into a cone and tape it closed, leaving a small opening at the pointed end. Thread a 3-foot piece of tulle through the opening and secure it from the inside with glue or tape. Glue a thick band of satin ribbon around the brim of the hat and use a silver glitter pen to add a touch of sparkle. Lay the hat in a nest of tulle on the table. Sprinkle glitter on the tulle to add sparkle.

Activities:

Royal beauty parlor: Invite all of the party princesses to dress in their fanciest costumes. Set up a salon station with baskets of hairclips, ribbons, bows, play makeup, and plastic jewelry to help them get ready for the ball.

Fairy wands: For each wand, you'll need two identical star shapes cut from sturdy cardboard and one wood dowel (about 15" long). If dowels are not available, you can use chopsticks. Preassemble the wands by sandwiching one end of the dowel between the stars. Seal the edges of the stars together with glue. Have the princesses decorate their wands with glitter glue, stickers, buttons, and markers. Help them wrap a brightly colored ribbon around the dowels.

Tiaras: Every princess needs a crown. Purchase ready-made cardboard tiaras from your local craft or party store. Have the children custom-design their crowns with jewel stickers and glitter glue.

Candy jewelry: To make these supersweet trinkets, thread candies with holes in them (Life Savers) or any O-shaped cereal through a piece of red shoelace licorice cut long enough to slip over the child's head for a necklace or hand for a bracelet. After the candies have been threaded on the licorice, tie it tightly. See who can wear theirs the longest without eating it!

Perfect Princess Cake: With a fancy skirt made entirely out of cake, this is one dessert that is really fit for a princess!

You'll need:

Two 9-inch round cakes (baked)

1 dome-shaped cake (baked in a 3-quart bowl)

5 cups white frosting

Gel icing

Red and blue food coloring

Cake doll (available at most bakery supply stores, or you can use a new Barbie or Disney doll)

To make the skirt:

Layer the two round cakes and the dome cake (flat side down) together on a pretty serving plate.

Tint the frosting in your child's favorite color:For pink: Add a few drops of red food coloringFor purple: Add a few drops of both red and blue food coloring

To complete the cake:

Spread the frosting on the skirt.

Refrigerate for several minutes to chill the frosting.

Gently press the doll (feet first) down into the center of the cake, up to her waist.

Create a frosting bodice on the doll.

Use the gel icing to pipe ribbons and bows on the dress.

Party Favors: Send the royal subjects back to their castles in style with a collection of princess-themed stickers, sunglasses, and giant jeweled rings.

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